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Friday, August 24, 2012

Bowls With Borders Blog Hop and Giveaway

I am so excited to be part of my first official blog hop ever - the Bowls With Borders Blog Hop! If you haven't visited here at Kathy's Quilts before, welcome to my quilting blog! And if you have visited before, welcome back!I live in Ontario, Canada, and have been blogging about my quilting addiction adventures since 2006. I joined the Bowls blog hop because I enjoy paper piecing, and I loved the pattern that inspired this blog hop.I had great fun dreaming up creative versions of possible bowl quilts to create, but went with my first thought:"If life is a BOWL of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?" (which is a book written by Erma Bombeck)Here's are my cherry bowls...

A big thanks to designer Regina Grewefor providing such a fun pattern to sew! And thank you to hop cheerleader Carol and hostess Madame Samm!Paper piecing is one of my favorite block sewing techniques, but I must admit that I always make a big mess. I do try to contain the bits of fabric and paper but find it impossible to be neat and tidy when paper piecing. Do you have the same problem?In my attempt to be a little more organized,I like to precut as many of the pieces as I can to the approximate sizes. I picked out my bowl fabrics and cut a piece from each fabric 5" x 2.5". Then I subcut that into 5" x 1.5" and 5" x 1" for each bowl. I also precut the red strips that go across each bowl at .75"...these pieces are small! Then I was organized and ready to start sewing.

I had a great time piecing the bowls (that was my favorite part) and stacked them 7 high. Then I appliqued the cherries which I fussy cut from "Oh Cherry" fabric and embroidered the stems (no, that was my favorite part).

Then onto the border...

I sewed together small scraps from the flower fabrics in the "Oh Cherry" line, and attached a tiny red rickrack at the beginning of the border.

I hand quilted around the bowls and in each border square (really, that was my favorite part).

Then I hand beaded the bowl bands in beads to match each bowl (okay, for real, that was my most favorite part).

Can you tell that I enjoyed each step of making my cherry bowls?!? LOL

To celebrate the blog hop, what better way than a draw for a "Oh Cherry" honey bun by Me and My Sister. Just leave me a comment below and let me know what you have enjoyed about the Bowls with Borders blog hop. What I enjoyed, aside from seeing all the great quilts, was the number of brave quilters who signed up for the blog hop and were beginner paper piecers, but were willing to try something new...bravo! Thanks for visiting my blog and enjoy the rest of the today's bowl blogs:

I miss Erma Bombeck and her little pieces of funny wisdom; your bowls are a sweet reminder of how much she made me laugh. I don't embroidery (I've been told I should learn it) so I really appreciate the work you put into those beautiful bowls. Hand beading? Oh my goodness--I love it! Thanks for hopping with us and I hope you come back to play with us again. :O)

Congrats on your first blog Hop. Very Cute Bowls. I used to wake up in time to listen to Erma on GMA every Morning way back when I lived on the farm. I have several of her books. Great idea for a fun quilt. Love the fabric line. Thanks for sharing...

I love your bowls! and the cherries are such fun!This blog hop has been such fun - I've enjoyed the wide variety of projects stemming from the same pattern! and you're all so clever!!Thanks for sharing!

Such a lovely quilt you´ve done! I love the different ideas to go with the same pattern. Each of us took different fabric and had another idea to bring them into a result. And I was really surprised to see the way which we can go for crazy ideas with best results. I do love colors in different mixtures... to have more ideas on my own. Its inspiring me!Thanks so much for those beautifull results!Beate from Gabrielles Atelier

I love the fabrics you have used in your bowl quilt. the colours are lovely and bright and the designs really beautiful. It is great seeing all the different ways the same bowl pattern has been used to make very different quilts.

This is such a beautiful quilt, the pastel colors, the beads, the cherries of course, the quilting and last but not least the photo setting among the pink flowers - perfect!I am glad you participated!Regina in Germany

This blog hop is right up your alley...a mini quilt with paper piecing, embroidery, appliqué embellishment and a bit of whimsy thrown in for good measure! Your quilt makes me crave a bowl of cherries! Too bad they are not in season!

I love your display....very pretty colours and the cherries are a great addition.. Wonderful giveaway too. This blog has been a learning experience; paper piecing, the time involved, and the commitment of everyone involved.

I really enjoyed this hop. It is always so much fun to see all the different creations that come from the same basic pattern-- LOVE it! And, it is an inspiration for ME to give paper piecing another try-- my past experiences have been not so great! ;-) Thank you for the chance to win!

Kathy - I love your little quilt & thanks for introducing me to these fabrics-they're so sweet, especially the flowerly border. The rick rack really stands out and frames the bowls. I also have a tendency to be not so neat when I sew & I think it's because I'm really concentrating on the process. Then when I'm finished I see what a great product I've made and the mess is anticlimatic, a necessary evil! Thanks for sharing and the opportunity to win some new fabric as I am trying to use my "vintage" collection which is a nice way of saying stuff I've collected for years, but haven't yet done anything with! LOL

You continually amaze me with the beautiful quilts you make. I think that no matter the difficulty you jump right in and create something wonderful. Your Cherry Bowls is amazing and I well remember Erma Bombecks book.

I love your bright cheerful bowls, especially the embellishment you put around them to show them off. Yes, this was my first time doing paper piecing. It sure was different but I think I got the knack of it now. I am ready to tackle some more. Thanks for sharing your bowls with us.

ooopsie I just commented on the entry below by accident :-Phere is my comment again :oDRosemary B here:Dear Kathy, I adore your project.That is really all I have to say, but I will go on :-)I love the fabric choices you made for the bowls,, and binding, all of the photos of this hilarious process... you did, however, forget to photograph your trashcan with all of that thread! hahaI love Erma Bombeck, she was such a sweetheart of a lady!Again, the fabrics and the colors are just fantastic together. You are an inspirationThank you so much for sharing! and for a contest too, niiiice

I love your fabric and color choices. And I especially love the cherries in the bowl! So fun and colorful. The blog hop has brought me to alot of great blogs I would have never found on my own. Now my morning coffee time is getting longer and longer. It's been very inspiring. Thanks for sharing with us and for the chance to win.

I love to paper piece and remember how I first started and how hard it seemed to me. It was great to see so many people trying something new. I love how cheerful your bowls are and what I like most about the hop (well, like you, there were a lot of things I liked about it) was all the different things that people put in their bowls. So creative.

Beautiful wallhanging and I really love the way you have the cherries falling from the bowl! I love fabrics by Me and My Sister and would love to win this jelly roll! The blog hop has really been fun and it has been neat to see all the different ways people have used the pattern!

I have really enjoyed the blog hop because I have seen so many different ways to do these bowls! they have all been great and some really good ideas were gathered here. I love the ric rac you used on your borders. Really makes the cherries pop! Thanks for the giveaway too.

It amazes me that so many people can come up with so many different ways to interpret one pattern! Your cherry bowls are simply adorable - makes me want to pluck one out and eat it up :*) You did a wonderful job!!!

I love your bowls and the red rickrack really serf them off well.My favorite part of the blog hp is all the nice people I've met, along with seeing each person individual creativity. Thank you for the giveaway - more fun!

Sew awesome. Love the saying, the fabrics, the cherries, the beading, the rickrack.....can you tell I liked every part? Thanks for sharing and the opportunity to win.Congrats on being one of the chosen.

I have to agree with you about all the new paper piecer's who signed up. I just can't seem to master this type of sewing. There is so much talent out there, and I'm amazed at everyone using the same pattern who different each one is. Thanks for a chance to win.

GREAT bowls full of cherries! VERY cute! If you use the freezer paper-piece method - you won't have any mess with scraps of paper. Go to Stash Manicure and then to the tutorial of candy corn - it's by "yours truly"! I hope you'll try it - you just might love it! Thanks for sharing and I'm x'ing my fingers that I win your giveaway! LOVE the fabric!

Love your wallhanging it is beautiful, fun, great idea/addition with the rick rack. This blog hop has sent me to so many fellow quilters, I'm having a great time. Glad you found Bonnie Hunter, her evening cam posts have been what I needed to start again...sewing in the evenings! Thank you for a great stack!Cathy Rwest coast gal

Erma Bombeck was a very funny lady. Your bowls of cherries mini quilt looks nice and summery. I like your fabric choices and the additions of rick rack, beading and of course the cherries. Very well done! What I like most about this blog hop is the variety of ideas all starting with the same pattern. Thanks for the giveaway.

Hi, I'm a novice to bloghopping and participating aswell, and being new to it I hop from one astonishment to another. First it starts with wondering what other people do with the pattern, (will they like mine?), when it started I was overwhelmed with the colors and ideas of others, all the kind reactions and on my own day I was pampered and cheered on, I could not believe my eyes, what a treat!But most of all I like looking at the pictures of all the variations made with this one pattern, I never thought this would be possible. ( I sometimes think:"what would Regina think?")I love your cherry filled bowls, they are great! I hope you enjoy the bloghop just as much as me. Love from Holland!

The one thing that I really really like about this blog hop is the wide interpretation of the same pattern - it's inspirational. I appreciate the thought, time and effort that each participant spent in creating their bowls with borders. Finally, it is fun visiting and learning about bloggers all over the world and in the US/Canada. Thanks for your contribution to the hop.

Kathy, your bowls are so great. Love the added trim and cherries. Great idea.I think what I have enjoyed the most about the hop is seeing all the different fabrics each person uses and then how they set the bowls. It has been fun.

What a cute little quilt! Like the cherries. What I liked about the blog hop was that being one of those who signed up, I finished a little quilt top. It was fun to see the creativity of some of the women and how each quilt turned out so differently...lots of different personalities out there. I would love to be entered to win some beautiful fabric! Make sure you enter my giveaway at www.neverenoughstash.blogspot.com for a pincushion.

Oh I love your fabrics. The rick-rack matching the colour stripe on the bowls and the cherries. Well put together. This blog hop has inspired me to try paper piecing,knowing that a mini quilt is a good challenge and I don't have to do a large bed size quilt to try out a new technique.

I love your wall hanging quilt! The fabrics and colors you chose are just wonderful!! I've loved seeing all the different items made from the same pattern. It's amazing the creativity of quilter's and how they can really make a project their own.

Wow! So so cute! What I enjoyed most is the fact that ll these bowl quilts are so cute! I did not join because I could not imagine a stack of bowls looking cute...I sure was wrong! They have all been darling! Thanks for the chance to win and thanks for showing us your cute quilt!!

Oh baby! I LOVE your version. My day is tomorrow (or really in an hour) and mine seem so plain to all the ones I"ve seen. The thing I have loved the most about this hop is all the variation and unexpected surprises that everyone has taken with the same pattern! It blows my mind!

Your bowls are so cute! I love how everyone took the same simple(yet awesome) pattern and twisted it to their own ideas. So many very different looks that i never would have thought of! What inspiration!

First of all I just love your stack of bowls. The colors, the fabrics, the cherries....all so wonderful. The hop has been great and it really is getting me very much interested in trying paper piecing myself. Perhaps for one of the other upcoming hops. If you know of a great online place for free patterns I'd love to hear about it.

Wow I this is one of my favorites! Love all the details to your stack of bowls! It has been great fun following all the quilters participating in the hop (sadly I missed this one due to being out of the country) and seeing all the embellishments. I don't often embellish on my quilts but now have so many ideas! Thanks!

Lots of wonderful touches to your pretty bowls...the cherries toppling out, the ric rac, the cheery flower border! I have so enjoyed this blog hop, very encouraged by all those who happily tried paper piecing for the first time! I most liked seeing such individual creativity in each new set of bowls!

Love your mini! Such fun and happy fabric. The ric-rac is the perfect touch. This hop has been so inspiring, so many different ideas and all inspired by one pattern. I also love that I'm introduced to new blogs of creative and talented people.

Your bowls are adorable with the broderie perse style appliqued cherries! Pass the bowl, please!I'm with you, I said before, it takes courage to step up and put your art out there with others who have great ideas. Cheers for all of you ~:-}pokey

I think what I have enjoyed the most is the individual interpretation - sorta like the differences in every person's selection in china. I have 3 different patterns in my cabinet - one very "elegant" W-on-W with silver band, a blue onion style earthenware, and a bold earth-town pottery... And I absolutely love the fabrics you used in your stack!

The cherries are a wonderful addition! Love your hand beading dressing them up further. Isn't it amazing how many different varieties of bowls were created? So fun to see. Thanks for the chance to win!

Kathy, your stack of bowls is so bright and cheery. Love the beads and ric rac. The cherries look good enough to eat. Thanks for the inspiration and for sharing in the hop!! There are many thing I have enjoyed about this blog hop. When Bowls with Borders started I said I am going to comment on every blog, so far so good, most days I am behind but I'm bound and determined I will read and comment on all of them before the 28th, that's today. I have found so many great blogs that I am now following. Pretty soon I won't have time to clean or cook, just sew and blog. I noticed you are from Ontario...for the past 9 years I have been living in Canton Michigan but I was born and raised in the Kitchener/Waterloo area...my next move will be back to Ontario when DH retires... and that is just around the corner! I am a new follower, and have spent the last hour going backwards in your blog. I look forward to visiting often. I always get excited when I find a quilt blogger that is close to 'home'. Would love it if you came by for a visit. Pauline